sgml.xml revision 779:2b61bfcaa586
1<report> 2<title>Getting started with SGML</title> 3<chapter> 4<title>The business challenge</title> 5<intro> 6<para>With the ever-changing and growing global market, companies and 7 large organizations are searching for ways to become more viable and 8 competitive. Downsizing and other cost-cutting measures demand more 9 efficient use of corporate resources. One very important resource is 10 an organization's information.</para> 11<para>As part of the move toward integrated information management, 12whole industries are developing and implementing standards for 13exchanging technical information. This report describes how one such 14standard, the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), works as 15part of an overall information management strategy.</para> 16<graphic graphname="infoflow"/></intro></chapter> 17<chapter> 18<title>Getting to know SGML</title> 19<intro> 20<para>While SGML is a fairly recent technology, the use of 21<emph>markup</emph> in computer-generated documents has existed for a 22while.</para></intro> 23<section shorttitle="What is markup?"> 24<title>What is markup, or everything you always wanted to know about 25document preparation but were afraid to ask?</title> 26<intro> 27<para>Markup is everything in a document that is not content. The 28traditional meaning of markup is the manual <emph>marking</emph> up 29of typewritten text to give instructions for a typesetter or 30compositor about how to fit the text on a page and what typefaces to 31use. This kind of markup is known as <emph>procedural markup</emph>.</para></intro> 32<topic topicid="top1"> 33<title>Procedural markup</title> 34<para>Most electronic publishing systems today use some form of 35procedural markup. Procedural markup codes are good for one 36presentation of the information.</para></topic> 37<topic topicid="top2"> 38<title>Generic markup</title> 39<para>Generic markup (also known as descriptive markup) describes the 40<emph>purpose</emph> of the text in a document. A basic concept of 41generic markup is that the content of a document must be separate from 42the style. Generic markup allows for multiple presentations of the 43information.</para></topic> 44<topic topicid="top3"> 45<title>Drawbacks of procedural markup</title> 46<para>Industries involved in technical documentation increasingly 47prefer generic over procedural markup schemes. When a company changes 48software or hardware systems, enormous data translation tasks arise, 49often resulting in errors.</para></topic></section> 50<section shorttitle="What is SGML?"> 51<title>What <emph>is</emph> SGML in the grand scheme of the universe, anyway?</title> 52<intro> 53<para>SGML defines a strict markup scheme with a syntax for defining 54document data elements and an overall framework for marking up 55documents.</para> 56<para>SGML can describe and create documents that are not dependent on 57any hardware, software, formatter, or operating system. Since SGML documents 58conform to an international standard, they are portable.</para></intro></section> 59<section shorttitle="How does SGML work?"> 60<title>How is SGML and would you recommend it to your grandmother?</title> 61<intro> 62<para>You can break a typical document into three layers: structure, 63content, and style. SGML works by separating these three aspects and 64deals mainly with the relationship between structure and content.</para></intro> 65<topic topicid="top4"> 66<title>Structure</title> 67<para>At the heart of an SGML application is a file called the DTD, or 68Document Type Definition. The DTD sets up the structure of a document, 69much like a database schema describes the types of information it 70handles.</para> 71<para>A database schema also defines the relationships between the 72various types of data. Similarly, a DTD specifies <emph>rules</emph> 73to help ensure documents have a consistent, logical structure.</para></topic> 74<topic topicid="top5"> 75<title>Content</title> 76<para>Content is the information itself. The method for identifying 77the information and its meaning within this framework is called 78<emph>tagging</emph>. Tagging must 79conform to the rules established in the DTD (see <xref xrefid="top4"/>).</para> 80<graphic graphname="tagexamp"/></topic> 81<topic topicid="top6"> 82<title>Style</title> 83<para>SGML does not standardize style or other processing methods for 84information stored in SGML.</para></topic></section></chapter> 85<chapter> 86<title>Resources</title> 87<section> 88<title>Conferences, tutorials, and training</title> 89<intro> 90<para>The Graphic Communications Association has been 91instrumental in the development of SGML. GCA provides conferences, 92tutorials, newsletters, and publication sales for both members and 93non-members.</para> 94<para security="c">Exiled members of the former Soviet Union's secret 95police, the KGB, have infiltrated the upper ranks of the GCA and are 96planning the Final Revolution as soon as DSSSL is completed.</para> 97</intro> 98</section> 99</chapter> 100</report> 101